An end-of-summer classic — with a new name, now known as the ONE Regatta [Offshore New England Championships] — wrapped up three days of what some locals called the best sailing of the year last weekend with top finishes going to a lot of longtime Marblehead competitors.With steady breezes at 10 to 12 knots on Friday and Saturday, and lighter winds on Sunday, the new format gave many one design fleets like the J/70s and J/105s the opportunity to participate as a class, while the event added a shorthanded division and an overnight race.This revised version of what locals call "the New England’s" never fails to produce some very close racing and great camaraderie. This year was no exception, and it is hoped the new event will bring in more "class racing" in the coming years, with boats like the Swan 44s, TP52s, Farr 40s taking part."This regatta does now have a chance of attracting people from outside of this region who will come a long way to race in a ‘class’ regatta," said Jack Slattery of Marblehead, a champion sailor and second place finisher onboard the Farr 40 Shout in Class 1."People do need some variety, and they might now come to Marblehead as a class event and attract more sailors. And when you have breeze on, there is no place better. It really turns into a world-class regatta."One of the biggest changes this year is that the PHRF (Performance Handicapped Racing Fleet) was measured by time on distance, instead of time on time, which simply means that the bigger boats might not always be at a slight advantage in each fleet. So, this, in turn, encouraged the race organizers to mix in a 10-mile race for some of the fleets, and Olympic level courses for others."For the first time in several years, we had a great breeze, so we were able to really get all the racing in we needed in two days," said Susie Schneider, chairman of the Eastern Yacht Club race committee."We got in a 10-mile race, and a two-mile race with five legs. The breeze was up, so we really just raced everyone very hard."In the J/70 fleet, Marblehead’s Bill Lynn sailed Africa with his teammates Alden Reed and Megan Wadson. This is the first time the J/70s have been a part of this event."The beauty of this new format is that we have a chance to get in a little bit of everything. This fleet is shaping up to be great here with a lot of good sailors and a lot of people who are committed to the fleet," Lynn said.Tyler Doyle of Doyle CFD, a company that works on the research and development end of sailing with Doyle Sailmakers, also raced in the J/70s, and he added, "not only did we enjoy racing as a team, we are also completing some testing of electronics that might benefit smaller, one design classes. We are testing something new, and were able to do so while racing. It was great."Although there were added innovations to this year’s event, like daily videos and on-the-water commentary, the racing still comes down to longtime friendly rivalries and old friends."We had a textbook day out there [Sunday]," said Peter Fein, crewmember on the Frers 36 Hot Spur, which was in a very close contest with rivals Frieghtrain and Sirocco in Fleet 5."Throughout the three days it remained one of the more competitive ‘New England’s’ I can remember, and with the win it was really a perfect Marblehead day for a sailor. We were able to finish it with a toast to our missing friend and teammate Mark McBride, who passed away this past winter."For the team on Heat Wave in Fleet 3, skippered by Gary Weisberg, about nine years of hard work paid off with his first win at the "New England’s."We really owe it to our crew-work, but we just sailed consistently well, and had a six point lead going into [Sunday]," Weisberg said. "Everything worked out, and we just sailed really well."In the J/105 fleet, Fred deNapoli had an amazing seven first place finishes, and one second in what other competitors have been calling his seminar on-the-water in yacht racing.Perfect sailing, with Nick Burke of Hamilton as tactician, deNapoli said that "everything just really clicked, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team to sail with."For Rob Gorman in Fleet One, his win onboard the Thompson 35 Vida Zee was a plus, while cruising class winner Corsair, was, according to skipper Ralph Carlton, a great win "with our kind of breeze" on Sunday.With a new format and many sailors pleased with the results, One regatta organizer Carter White of Maine offered his thoughts: "I have been participating in the event for 20 years, and I have been running events for 10 years, so I tried to put in as many fun and interesting things that I could into this one. A lot of the things we brought to it was a value to the participants, and we hope to make this one of the biggest events in New England for years to come."For overall results, go to www.oneregatta.org.